"Reports find that The Riddler has kidnapped the head chairman of the Board of Health and Medicine, as of yet no clues to his location or intent have been given. If you see him or know about any of his whereabouts, please cont-"
"Sir, I must insist that you take some time off from all of this nonsense, Edward Nygma will leave a riddle that you will solve and proceed to take him down, it's his M.O." Alfred said as he laid the remote back down on the desk.
Bruce picked up some papers from a manila folder at the end of his desk and handed them to Alfred.
He grimaced at the paper, "why, oh my. This isn't like him at all."
'I'll never fully understand these people Alfred, which is why I need to analyze every bit of their actions to even get a snippet of their psyche."
'Why yes sir, but this is madness. You have locked yourself here for nearly three weeks searching for a clue that any rational man will see doesn't exist."
"I have to keep trying Alfred. I don't know what he's planning next. Last time I didn't pay enough attention to him he brought down the criminal underworld to its knees and waged war aganst GCPD. And if you remember, I needed the help of Dick, Clark, and Diana to solve his riddles."
"Well yes, sir. But right now you don't have enough details to establish neither a motive nor plan. My best recommendation is to take a break. Freshen up your mind and come back later. For Pete's sake you look like you're 60 even though you are 29, sir."
Bruce laughed. "Yeah, you're right, I need to check up on the kids either way." He said as he got up. Bruce made his way and stopped at the door to his office. "Oh, and whip up some of that famous tea of yours Alfred, I am ready to knock out." Alfred smiled as Bruce left.
Dark bags had started under M'gann's eyes. She didn't know how much longer she could keep biting her nails and regrowing them before she just barged into the med bay of the Bioship to check on Wally's condition. It was unfair that he had to endure psychological and physical torture only to be dying. And she felt worse because all she did was watch, helpless as her teammate got pummeled by an opponent far stronger than any of them. And when he defeated him he turned to her and collapsed into her arms thinking he was useless. Boy did he not know that he wasn't useless. He was brave and strong to have stood up to Clayface's psychological torment. She didn't think that any of them could have done what he did.
"Why haven't we radioed in to the cave? To Batman?" Asked Conner.
"When Wally blasted Clayface with his taser. The taser exploded, creating a mini EMP that shorted out all of our comms." M'gann responded.
"Then why can't we use the Bioship."
"Because the Bioship is only as strong as I am an-"
"Then why can't we us-"
"Because I'm suffering from a concussion, Conner! We were all knocked out. I suffered the worst concussion out of all of us. Stop asking your questions and let me focus on the steering."
In the med bay of the Bioship, Kaldur, Robin, and Artemis are attending a bleeding Wally. A pool of blood is on the floor and as seconds tick by, it grows ever bigger.
"He's lost 40% of his blood. We need to stem the flow now! Artemis, more towels!"
lllllllll
She can feel it. But can she? Is it an illusion? It's very faint. Yeah, just an illusion.
"M…'g…a…n…n"
No.
It's there.
Present.
Here
Calling out to her.
He's still alive!
...
But for how long?
Bruce just finished putting on his suit when he recieved the call.
Wally was in the med bay of the Mountain.
He lost too much blood
He'll probably not make it.
Back in the cave, several feet were pacing, others were huffing, and some were silent. It was clear that everyone was worried.
The Flash stopped in front of Batman. "How did this happen to my nephew!"
"The team debriefed and told us that Clayface had impersonated a number of them and attacked Kid Flash. When Clayface imitated Artemis, he created a bow similar to hers but far stronger. As you now know, he shot Kid Flash with an arrow. The bleeding is extensive, that's all we know."
Flash clenched his fists, the suit squeaking in response. "Now, why would you have sent them on a mission that involved that pile of dirt!?"
"Because I thought that they could take it. Due to previous encounters by me, Clayface doesn't show the capacity for higher thought processes. He is very mentally limited which is why I thought the team could handle it. But this has proved me incorrect. It seems that Clayface does indeed have some degree of mental capabilities that I didn't notice. I believe that he might be working for someone more powerful than him. As to the identity of who is still unclear."
Flash's fists unclenched. He couldn't fault Batman for this. He just needed someone to blame. It seemed very easy to do it to the man who sent them on this mission. In fact, he had been looking to laying in on Batman the moment he received the call during his patrol. And now he was standing here, yelling at a man with no fault because there was nothing he could do to help his nephew.
The doctor stepped out from the med bay, the door closing lightly behind him. He took off his glasses, gently placing them in his coat pocket. His eyes met with Barry's.
Suddenly, a small smile stretched across his face.
Barry let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He was alive. His nephew was alive.
"Kid Flash suffered a hypovolemic shock due to blood loss. We were barely able to get the blood transfusion in, but once we did and we gave him an iv bag, his speed healing kicked in faster than usual. Right now he is still healing. I sedated him so that he wouldn't tear up his artery with an unexpected move of his shoulder."
Barry hugged the doctor. "Thank you so much Doctor, I can't begin to describe how grateful I am."
The doctor patted his back. "But there is something else that I need to tell you. Do expect some type of personality change in him. He lost too much blood that it affected his brain." Barry reeled back, eyes wide.
"There will be no cognitive impairment though, so you don't have to worry about that. His intelligence and memory remain untouched. His personality will be the only thing that will change."
"Is there any reason why, doctor?" Questioned Bruce.
"Yes, see when he went into hypovolemic shock, he had little blood flowing through him. There wasn't enough to circulate into his brain. This caused neural necrosis. Normally this would be very bad for a normal person, if not treated it can lead to certain death, but it happened to a speedster, so this allowed his cells to come back to life to an extent. The cells that "came back to life" were the ones that were near death but didn't actually die. The ones that did die were the ones in the area of the brain responsible for personality." Barry's shock subsided but his joy still remained, buzzing him with elated euphoria.
"When can we see him doctor?"
"When he wakes up in a few hours, by then he should be mostly healed. I will make sure to call you when the time comes. Oh, and smart boy he is. If he had taken out that arrow he would have hemorrhaged and certainly died." Barry smiled, he was a little uneasy at how close his nephew had come to death. But boy was he glad that Wally had gone through his biomedical phase.
M'gann cried tears of joy upon hearing that her friend and teammate was going to be just fine. She shuddered at the thought of him dying. It was unthinkable to her. If he had died, his last words ever spoken were him thinking he was useless. More tears fell from her eyes. How did he carry those emotions around and still be a selfless hero. And she knew that he has had these feelings far longer than he has shown. And the only reason why she knew this was because whenever he thought she wasn't around, he would relax and be his true self. Before, she would think nothing of this, she chalked it up to human teenage hormones. After all, she only felt the emotions, she didn't know what caused them.
"How are you feeling M'gann?" Asked Kaldur, walking up to her side.
"Oh Kaldur, how do you expect me to feel. Wally almost died. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to him."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure none of us would be able to forgive ourselves if something happened to any of our teammates. This is why I have set up a consultation with Canary." She nodded. That sounded like a good idea.
"And we will have extra consultation with her as well due to Wally's change of personality."
'Oh right. He is going to change. I wonder how much? I hope he doesn't change too much.' She smiled at him. With everything that has been going on, she was going to most definitely need the therapy.
'But Wally is going to need it the most.'
A day passed and they were allowed to visit Wally. Upon entering, they quickly noticed how there wasn't any type of noise coming from Wally. He stared at them with a smile. "Hi guys. Are you guys ok? Any injuries?"
M'gann stared at him wide eyed. He was the one who got shot by a bow. He was the one who got a major artery severed. He was the one who was about to die. And he is asking how they are?
"What? Wally, we're fine, you're the one who needs the well wishing." Said Artemis.
He smiled at her. "I'm done healing, I'll be out by tomorrow morning. Doctor Amgyn made sure of it. But I'm healed, I'm more worried about all of you. I never saw you during the fight. How did you guys get out?"
"We had to dislocate our thumbs." Robin admitted. Wally winced.
"Damn, sorry to hear. But hey, at least we all made it out and we are safe." Everyone nodded.
"But seriously guys, anyone want to sneak some food in? How about a cookie Miss M? I would love a taste of your delicious Martian treat." Said Wally, winking at her.
M'gann blushed. "Sure."
